Civil rights history tour in Hattiesburg

HATTIESBURG – (AP) A new audio driving tour highlights 15 locations that played a crucial part in Mississippi civil rights, including a 1964 drive to register black voters in the state.

The Hattiesburg American reports that they’re all in the Hattiesburg area.

They include the spot where a firebomb killed the NAACP’s Forrest County president, Vernon Dahmer, and destroyed his home in 1966. His last words included some he had often repeated: “If you don’t vote, you don’t count.”

Another site is the Woods Guest House, a hotel built between 1895 and 1900 for African-Americans in a segregated society. During the summer of 1964, it was headquarters for the area’s civil rights activity and called Freedom House.

The Hattiesburg Convention Center’s Visitor’s Center has a brochure and more information.

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